Control apparatus



WITNESSES:

F. H. MILLER.

CONTROL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1918.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Trolley J EJW Groua' l0 INVENTOR Gnu/f: WM/

' AT'TORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK H.

MILLER, or wmrassvm, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro WESTING- VAN IA.

CONTROL APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3, 1921.

Application filed. November 16, 1918. Serial No. 262,787.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Control Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to control apparatus and particularly to operating handle members of the dead-mans release type for drum controllers or the equivalent.

One object of my invention is to provide a switching device of the above-indicated character having a rotatable operating handle member and an arrangement of operating parts requiring a radially outward pressure upon the handle member for rendering the switching device either mechanically or electrically operative.

Another object of my invention is to provide a switching device comprising a portion of a drum controller loosely mounted upon an operating shaft and a handle member for rotating the shaft at all times and for rotating the switching device only under the application of radial pressure. A further object of my invention is to provide a contact-making and breaking device of the class under consideration embodying means dependent upon a radially outward pressure on the operating handle for rendering the device operative and other means for rotatively returning the switching device to its normal position upon the release of such pressure.

Other minor objects of my invention, relating to the compactness of construction, ease of manufacture and simplicity and reliability of operation, will. be evident from the following detailed description.

My invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a view, in longitudinal section, of a dead-mans release apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partially in elevation and partially in section, taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of a control system, serving to illustrate one application of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, the dead? mans release apparatus here shown comprises a main switching device or control drum 1 that is rigidly mounted upon the customary operating shaft 2, an auxiliary drum or switching device 3 being attached to a sleeve member at that is loosely mounted upon the operating shaft 2. The two drums are located within the controller proper, in accordance with usual practice, and. an operating handle member 5, mounted on top of the controller to engage the operating shaft 2, is provided with a helical spring member 6, extending in a radial direction with respect to the operating shaft, for the purpose of biasing the handle member to the illustrated extreme left-hand position, while a spiral spring member 7 is located within the controller to rotatively bias the auxiliary switching device 3 to the illustrated or normal position. The auxiliary drum 3 may be conveniently maintained in its proper position by a collar or washer 3 that is located between the drums 1 and 3.

The main control drum 1 may be of any well-known construction and is illustrated in a conventional manner as embodying a plurality of contact rings or segments 10 for engaging a set of stationary control fingers 11, that are mounted upon a suitable fingerbase 12, under predetermined conditions of operation. Likewise, the auxiliary drum 3 is provided with a pair of contact segments 13 that are adapted to be bridged by control fingers 1. L- during operation of the control apparatus. The control fingers 14; may also be conveniently mounted upon the fingerbase 12.

The operating shaft 2 of the controller comprises a cylindrical portion 15 upon which the sleeve 4 is mounted, and a square end portion Or head 17 for normally engaging the handle member 5 to effect rotative movement of the operating shaft 2 at all times.

The sleeve member 4 is located within a suitable apertured boss 18 upon the controller top or cover member 19 of the familiar type which, in the present instance, is also provided with a downwardly extending lug or' arm 19*, to which one end of the spiral spring 7 is secured, the other end thereof being attached to the sleeve member 4:, whereby the sleeve member and the rigidly associated auxiliary drum 3 are rotatively biased to the illustrated ofi or.inoperative position. Above the controller cover 19, the sleeve 4 terminates in a reduced portion 16 having inclined sides, for a purpose to be set forth.

The handle member 5 comprises a wooden grip 20, of a well-known type, that is mounted near one end of a hollow bar or channel member 21 having an upwardly extending elongated hollow boss 22, the inner side walls of which engage the square head 17 of the operating shaft to effect rotative movement thereof.

Below the boss 22 lies a recess 26 having inclined sides to engage the inclined sides of the portion 16 of the sleeve l. Normally, the sleeve portion 16 and the recess 26 are out of engagement, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, but, upon the application of radially outward pressure to the hancle grip 20, the narrower end of the recess will engage the sleeve portion 16, whereby the sleeve member 4. and the rigidly associated auxiliary drum or switching device 8 may also be rotatively moved.

A protuberance or heel 27, located on the end of the handle member 5 remote from the grip 20, is provided with an internal groove or slot 28 that is continued throughout the length of the channel member 21 and is duplicated on the other side thereof, the heel 27' being of such shape as to grip (in operative controller positions) a collar 29 which loosely surrounds a cylindrical portion of the sleeve member 4 just below the tapered portion 16 and. is provided with a rig.1t-angle extension or bracket 30. The collar 29 is supported and positioned by the controller-cover boss 18. The helical spring 6, which normally biases the handle member parts to the extreme left-hand position shown, is located between the bracket 30 and a confronting web or downwardly-extending wall 31 of the channel member 21.

The collar 29 is provided, along its sides, with tongues or bearing-rails 23 for the purpose of engaging the grooves or slots 28 in the channel member 21, whereby the han dle member 5 may be slidably actuated toward the right by the application of radially outward pressure when it is desired to rotate the auxiliary drum, as more fully described later.

Referring to Fig. 4, the fragmentary system shown comprises supply-circuit conductors trolley and ground, between which a control resistor 35, of a familiar type, is connected. A suitable low-voltage tap 36 of the resistor 35 is connected to the upper auxiliary control finger 14, whereby energy may be conducted through contact segments 13, control fingers 11 and contact segments 10, to the motor-controlling circuits, as indicated by the accompanying legend, or to any other portion of an electrical system that it is desired to control. It is evident that, since the main control drum 1 is relatively movable with respect to the auxiliary drum 3 and, since electrical energy can be transmitted to the main control drum only through the agency of the contact members 13 upon the auxiliary drum, even though the main drum is rotated by means of the operating handle 5 in the illustrated normal position, no electrical circuits are completed by this action, since the auxiliary drum is both mechanically and electrically inoperative and, therefore, the contact segment 13 does not engage control fingers 14. The further operation of the illustrated apparatus may be set forth as follows. Under normal operating conditions, the train operator first exerts radially outward pressure upon the handle grip 20, whereby the channel member 21 is slidably moved toward the right through the agency of the tonguc-and-groove construction including the collar 29, such action being taken in opposition to the action of the helical biasing spring 6. In the extreme righthand position of the handle member, the smaller end of the tapered slot 26 grips the correspondingly tapered portion 16 of the sleeve member, whereby rotative movement of the auxiliary drum 3 may be effected as soon as the operating handle 5 is rotated. In this way, the desired electrical circuits are completed, the rotative movement being taken in opposition to the action of the spiral spring 7. In case of incapacitat-ion of the train operator or other release of the above-mentioned radially outward pressure upon the handle grip 20 in any operative controller position, the handle member 5 is immediately returned to its illustrated left-hand position by means of the helical spring 6, and the spiral spring 7 concurrently. acts to return the sleeve member 4 and its associated control drum 3 to the illustrated off or normal position. The governed electrical circuits are thus immediately opened upon the release of operating pressure upon the handle. The automatic movement of the handle parts may also be utilized to control an air-braking system, or the equivalent, in accordance with any of the well-known structures of this general class.

Although the train operator, during rotative movement of the handle member 5, is working against the two springs 6 and 7, never heless, no hardship is imposed upon him, since each of the springs may be rela tively light in construction and, moreover, the maintenance of radially outward pressure by the train operator is physically easier and less tiresome than the direct downward pressure upon the handle grip that is required in all prior types of deadmans release apparatus with which I am familiar.

It should be noted that the handle memher 5, that is, the entire structure above the controller cover 19, may be readily removed as a unit, without requiring any more care or attention on the part of the train operator than the removal of the customary prior types of operating handles. Furthermore, it is impossible to initially close the circuit of the controller in any but the first operative position thereof, by reason of the tapered form of the slot 26 and of the cooperating sleeve portion 16.

I do not wish to be restricted to the specific circuit connections or arrangement and construction of parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In control apparatus, the combination with a switching device, and a rotatable operating member therefor, of means requiring a radial pressure upon and a radial bodily movement of said member for rendering said switching device operative.

2. In control apparatus, the combination with a contact-makin g and breaking device, and a rotatable handle member therefor, of means compelling a radially outward pressure upon and a radial bodily movement of said handle member for rendering said device operative.

8. In control apparatus, the combination with a contact-making and breaking device, and an operating member having one dimension longer than the others, of means dependent upon pressure and a bodily movement in the line of said longer dimension for rendering said device operative.

4. In control apparatus, the combination with a contact-making and breaking device, and a rotatable handle member having its longest dimension extending horizontally, of means requiring an outward pressure and a bodily movement in the line of said longest dimension for insuring the operativeness of said device.

In control apparatus, the combination with a switching device, and a rotatable operating handle therefor, of means dependent upon a radial pressure on and a bodily movement of said handle for rendering said device operative, and means for returning said device to its normal position upon the release of such pressure.

6. In control apparatus, the combination with a switching device, and a rotatable operating handle therefor, of a helical spring for requiring radially outward pressure upon and a radial bodily movement of said handle to render said device operative,

member for rotating said shaft at all times and for rotating said device under the application of radial pressure, and means for rotatably returning the device to its normal position upon the release of such pressure.

9. In control apparatus, the combination with an operating shaft, and a switching device loosely mounted thereon, of a handle member for rotating said shaft at all times and having a tapered slot for gripping a correspondingly fashioned portion of said device upon the application of radially outward pressure to said handle member, whereby said device may be rotated, and means opposing the rotary movement of said device.

10. In control apparatus, the combination with an operating shaft, and a switching device loosely mounted thereon, of a handle.

member for rotating said shaft at all times and having a tapered slot for gripping a correspondingly fashioned portion of said device upon the application of radially outward pressure to said handle member, whereby said device may be rotated, a spring for opposing such pressure, and a second spring for rotatively returning the device to its normal position upon the release of such pressure.

11. In control apparatus, the combination with an operating sh aft, and a switching clevice embodying a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaft. of a handle member fitted to rotate said shaft at all times and having a tapered slot for gripping a correspondingly fashioned portion of said sleeve upon the application of radially outward pressure to said handle member, whereby said device may be rotated, a collar member surrounding said sleeve and adapted to allow sliding movement of said handle member when said pressure is applied, a helical spring acting between the handle member and said collar member for opposing such pressure, and a spiral spring having its movable end secured to said sleeve to effectreturn rotative movement of the switching device to its original position upon the release of said pressure.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 30th day of Oct. 1918.

FREDERICK MILLER. 

